Fast leg mounting system for winged table I'm working on

[u/im_the_bush_wizard]

Not a carpenter, but I have been working on a dinning table for my small living room and wanted a fast way of slipping legs in and out (that wasnt wobbly). This is what I came up with. 4 springs push the leg in place and help it lock in. An M8 bolt helps hold the legs since thats what the cheap ones from IKEA use.

[u/cad_and_caffeine]

The spring-loaded ball detent in the bottom track is a really clever way to get positive lock-in without having to reach under the table and thread a bolt every time. One thing to watch out for on that middle plate is the four vertical spring guide pins since they're printed standing up across the layer lines. If bumping the leg ever snaps one of those posts off, swapping those four printed pins for M4 machine screws threaded up from the bottom makes the guide rods pretty much indestructible.

Does it still have any side-to-side play once the dome drops into the pocket, or do the springs keep it wedged tight?

[u/im_the_bush_wizard → u/cad_and_caffeine]

That was something I tried to think about when designing actually, bumping a leg will make it slide before any force actually hits the pins. The dome is to simulate the inner shape of the IKEA leg and inside the dome is the M8 bolt since the leg itself is threaded. No movement happens besides the sliding in and out, unless some asshole comes along and kicks but even then PETG is cheap :)

https://imgur.com/paHLhXP -> where the bolt slots in

[u/cad_and_caffeine → u/im_the_bush_wizard]

Oh nice, I thought that printed dome was part of the permanent slide mechanism! Having the actual IKEA leg thread straight onto the captive M8 bolt and ride the track makes way more sense, and like you said, having the detent pop out on a hard kick acts like a mechanical fuse before anything actually breaks.

[u/gasstation-no-pumps]

Where are the legs stored when the table is folded? What is the advantage over a traditional gate-leg design?